Marine says sex with Elon coed was consensual

GRAHAM – A former Marine accused of raping an Elon University coed after a night of heavy drinking spent a good deal of Monday afternoon refuting the accusations.

Johnathan V. Olson, 20, is accused of raping an Elon student in her dorm room during the early morning hours of Sept. 4, 2011. He was visiting the campus with two fellow Marines from Camp Lejeune.

The state rest rested its case against Olson shortly before noon Monday. He’s charged with second-degree rape and received a less-than-honorable discharge after the accusations arose.

Defense attorney Julian Doby indicated several witnesses would testify on Olson’s behalf before the defense rested. Olson testified for more than an hour Monday afternoon and is expected to continue his testimony when the trial resumes at 9:30 Tuesday morning.

Alamance County District Attorney Pat Nadolski is also expected to cross-examine Olson on Tuesday.

Olson referred Monday to the alleged victim as his best friend from high school and said sex between the two was consensual. He said both he and the female were drunk, but said he didn’t know there was a problem with their having sex until the following morning when they woke up together in bed.

Olson said at that time the female told him, “It was a mistake that can’t happen again.”

Olson said he agreed, but said accusations of rape didn’t surface until later. He said they slept until about mid-morning, then sat with one of his fellow Marines on a wall outside the dorm for about 45 minutes before leaving campus. Olson said they talked about their high school days before bidding one another farewell.

“We hugged and me and the guys left,” Olson testified.

He described in detail events that led to the Sept. 4 encounter. Olson said he and two other Marines – Cpl. Josh Boosamra and Sgt. Andrew Morrison – went to the beach together the afternoon of Sept. 3. Olson said he began texting the alleged victim, who initially planned to drive to the coast with friends to visit the Marines. A sorority function planned the following day nixed those plans, so Olson and the other Marines drove to Elon.

They’d been drinking beer at the beach and drank liquor during their drive to Elon. They attended a fraternity party on campus and later went to a pair of dorm rooms – the alleged victim’s being the second they visited.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that the majority of us had way too much to drink that night,” Olson admitted.

He said that while walking back to the dorm from the fraternity party, he “scooped up” the alleged victim. Asked by Doby why he’d done so, Olson repled, “I can’t specifically recall. I was pretty drunk.”

But Olson also testified the alleged victim was coherent the entire night and hadn’t passed out when they had sex as prosecutors have suggested. He said they snuggled and talked after having sex.

Olson said he texted the alleged victim after returning to Camp Lejeune. She responded, he said, that she was upset about what happened and didn’t want to talk.

Olson said it was Sept. 5 before he learned there were accusations of rape.

Boosamra also testified for about an hour Monday afternoon. He said he drank and partied with Olson and a handful of coeds in the hours leading to the alleged assault. He said the alleged victim exposed her breasts and rear end to him and others in a dorm room.

“You could tell she was intoxicated,” Boosamra said.

He said the alleged victim later became sick and threw up in a sink in her dorm room. Boosamra said he was in and out of the room on several occasions, walking in once to find Olson supporting the victim as she stood over the sink. He said he walked in another time to find Olson and the coed under the sheets, the female covering her face and giggling.

Boosamra said he spent part of the night sleeping on the floor of the room where the assault is alleged to have taken place.

But Nadolski countered that Boosamra had changed his statements on several occasions – at first not divulging to special agents with the Naval Criminal Investigation Service that the alleged victim had exposed her breasts and rear end to partiers, telling agents only there’d been dancing and music.

Pressed by Nadolski, Boosamra said he initially didn’t tell the rest of the story because he was afraid he’d get in trouble. Boosamra said after going to sleep on the floor of the alleged victim’s room, he was awakened by the sound of the female and Olson kissing and giggling.

Nadolski said the story wasn’t true, telling Boosamra it was “just a concoction of your imagination to save your friend, isn’t that right?”

The end of the state’s case came after two special agents from the Naval Criminal Investigation Service concluded testimony as to a polygraph test and follow-up interview Olson provided. Doby questioned Special Agent Wayne Brown several times why there’d been no notes taken from the hours-long interview with Olson that followed the polygraph.

According to Brown, Olson signed a statement indicating his recollection of the alleged attack. Brown said Olson asked only to include a paragraph at the end indicating he didn’t feel the statement adequately indicated he hadn’t used violence.

Olson said he broke down and sobbed during his lengthy interview with Brown, saying he finally threw up his hands and told the investigator he’d sign whatever he wanted. Olson said Brown repeatedly told him after the polygraph exam was completed, “It’s clear you’re not telling everything.”

Brown said Olson once told him he didn’t believe what happened was rape because rape is an act of violence. Brown said Olson said he “did have sex without her explicit consent.”

At the end of the day, Olson said that meant only the alleged victim didn’t specifically say it was OK for the two of them to have sex, something he said he’d never had a partner tell him.

Superior Court Judge James E. Hardin Jr. denied a request by Doby that the case be dismissed at the time the defense rested. Doby argued there was no evidence a rape had occurred, no evidence of vaginal penetration except based on Olson’s testimony.

Doby said a nurse who examined the coed following the alleged rape testified the female suffered bruises to her thighs and legs. Doby said the injuries could have happened any number of ways.

Hardin disagreed.

“There is certainly adequate evidence of a sexual assault and penetration,” he said.